Earthquake Shock

by Marlane Kennedy

  But maybe he didn’t know his mother as well as he thought. “It sounds like you knew exactly what you needed to do to keep yourself and your friends safe. I’m proud of you,” she said.

  “I am, too,” his father said, ruffling his hair. “I’m glad you’re my son.”

  “I’m glad you’re my dad,” Joey said, and he really truly meant it with all his heart.

  Later that evening, Joey and Dylan continued their game of rummy and played a few more rounds. But it was still hard for Joey to focus on the game and he ended up losing big. He had a happy ending with his family, and Dylan did, too. But what about Fiona and Kevin? Were their homes destroyed? Were their families okay? The answers to those questions remained a mystery.

  Two weeks later, Joey had all the answers he wanted. He, Fiona, Kevin, and Dylan were gathered around a laptop in Joey’s room. Kevin was finally going to upload the video he had shot at the skate park so they could see it.

  Things were just beginning to return to normal. Joey’s and Dylan’s families had to stay at the recreation center for nearly a week before their building was declared safe to return to. It had seemed sort of like camping out at first, but everyone quickly grew tired of the overcrowded conditions, prepackaged food, and stiff cots.

  When Joey finally stepped inside the Flores’s apartment he felt like he might burst with happiness. Sure, the place was a bit dusty and stuffy, but aside from a few fallen items, it looked exactly like they had just left for a quick outing. A few of Allie’s toys lay scattered on the living room floor and some dirty dishes waited in the sink — there hadn’t been time to pick up after the quake struck. But to Joey, there was no place he’d rather be. This was home and he had missed its comforts.

  Kevin connected his camcorder to Joey’s laptop and double-clicked on the movie-app icon.

  “How’s your dad doing?” Joey asked. Kevin’s father had been at work when the quake struck and a wall had fallen in on top of him. He had some internal injuries and spent a few days at the hospital.

  Kevin smiled. “Great. Thanks. He’s back at work now. Almost fully recovered.”

  “I’m glad,” said Joey. And for the millionth time since the earthquake struck, he really was. Everyone else in Kevin’s family made it through okay — and Fiona’s family, too. Joey knew he and his friends had been very lucky.

  “Here we go!” Kevin said. All at once, the noise of the skate park filled the room — the clatters, the clanks, kids talking and yelling.

  There was Joey and his slick rail slide, pumping his fist in the air when he landed. Then Fiona swooped down the half-pipe effortlessly just before the screen cut to Joey dropping in for the first time. It showed him falling halfway down with a sheepish look, and later, grinning with success.

  Seeing his skateboard made Joey a little sad. He’d lost it in the quake. But he knew one day he’d get another one, that he’d enjoy hanging at the skate park with his friends again.

  The group watched intently — their eyes glued to the laptop screen — when the scenery suddenly changed. Instead of the skate park there was a quick image of the overpass ahead and then a close-up of Dylan doing his kickflip. The shot was taken only moments before the world had gone mad.

  They solemnly watched what Kevin had documented: the mountain of concrete from the collapsed overpass, homes and buildings utterly destroyed, people in shock, neighbors helping one another. They saw the horrible glow of the house on fire and felt relief all over again when the fire truck showed up. Then came a clip of little Emma waving good-bye to them from the safety of her mother’s arms.

  Joey thought of his own family. How annoyed he’d always get with his parents and Allie, and how, since the quake, he had grown to appreciate them more. How he’d wanted a cooler dad, but was now so grateful to just have a happy, healthy one who loved him. He knew his family would manage to annoy him again from time to time. That was inevitable. But he’d never look at things exactly the same way again. He would never take his family or friends for granted. The earth had shifted, but so had his perspective about things.

  Suddenly, the video cut to a close-up of … Dylan’s ripped back pocket seam. And there amid the sadness and destruction and generosity and hope of that day were C-3PO and R2-D2 peeking out of the large tear in Dylan’s jeans.

  “What the heck?” Dylan exclaimed. “Kevin, I’m going to get you for this!” Everyone laughed, including Dylan. He gave a sheepish shrug and said, “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Star Wars. It’s a classic, you know.”

  If Dylan ever gave him a hard time in the future, Joey figured at least he’d have an embarrassing story about him to share now. But somehow he thought, with all that had happened, Dylan wouldn’t be much of a problem anymore.

  • More than 500,000 earthquakes strike all over the world every year. Scientists use machines called seismometers to measure the magnitude, or size and intensity, of earthquakes. An earthquake with a magnitude of 3 or under usually can’t be felt, but anything over a magnitude 6 has the potential to cause serious damage.

  • The outside crust of the earth is made of large pieces — or plates — that move slowly. When these plates collide or rub against each other, they can trigger an earthquake. And when a quake cracks the earth’s crust and causes violent shaking, highways may collapse and buildings can be destroyed.

  • While the shaking ground is dangerous, earthquakes can cause other natural disasters such as avalanches and landslides that can be even more deadly. Undersea earthquakes can trigger tsunamis, or giant waves, that can flood the coasts.

  • San Francisco, California, suffered a major earthquake on April 18, 1906. The quake lasted only a minute, but it ignited fires that burned through the city for three days, and destroyed around 490 city blocks.

  • More recently, a quake hit Indonesia on December 26, 2004. This earthquake lasted nearly ten minutes — the longest earthquake on record.

  • On January 12, 2010, an earthquake hit the island of Haiti. Around 3.5 million people were affected by the disaster, and 4,000 schools were damaged or destroyed.

  • In the United States, Alaska has the most earthquakes of any state, but California’s earthquakes do the most damage.

  • Some scientists have observed animals acting strangely before a quake. Frogs and bees have been known to leave their homes, and chickens have refused to lay eggs! No one knows how or why animals sense the oncoming quake.

  • Earthquakes are very hard to predict. If you feel the ground begin to shake, here are a few things you can do to help keep yourself safe:

  • Stay away from windows and heavy furniture like bookcases or dressers that could tip over and trap you.

  • Crawling under a table, bed, or desk can also protect you from falling objects.

  • If you are outside, try to stand in an open space, far from buildings, trees, or power lines.

  By the time they got within a hundred feet of the barn, rain cut loose from the heavy cloud wall and began to pelt them. Each drop stung Wyatt’s face. Alison shrieked like it was great fun riding in the rain. An adventure. Joshua and Jackson laughed, too. But Wyatt didn’t appreciate getting soaked to the bone. The air had turned cold, and as the wind started to pick up, he shivered and hustled toward the barn, where he jumped off Licorice and opened the door, letting everyone inside.

  They took the tack off the horses and put their gear away, then rubbed and brushed the horses down before leading them into their stalls. Duncan trotted off to check on his goats, with Alison close behind. She climbed into the pen, scratched the mama goat under her chin, then picked up one of her tiny week-old triplet babies and nuzzled it with her cheek. “You are sooooo sweet,” she said. “I wish I could take you home with me.”

  Duncan barked.

  “Oh, and you, too, Duncan!” Alison laughed. “I would probably have better luck bringing a pygmy goat into the apartment than Duncan,” she called to the boys. “I can’t believe how small these goats are. Even the mama. Dunc
an is way bigger!”

  Just as Joshua and Jackson were about to climb into the goat pen with Alison, Wyatt turned to them and frowned.

  “We should go inside,” he said. He wanted to change into some dry clothes and play video games with Joshua and Jackson before they had to go home. But all at once an ear-shattering clatter shook the metal roof of the barn.

  The kids all jumped in surprise.

  Hail? Wyatt wondered. He peeked out the barn door while the others scrambled over the rails of the goat pen after him. Hail stones about the size of golf balls bounced off the ground.

  “Holy cow!” Jackson said.

  “Oh my gosh!” Alison stood with her mouth gaping open.

  Joshua stuck his hand outside, like he wanted to catch a piece of hail. Jackson quickly pulled his younger brother back. “Don’t be stupid. That hail is big enough to hurt you!”

  Then just as suddenly as the hail started, it stopped.

  “Man, that was weird!” Joshua said.

  As the kids walked toward the house, the air felt oddly still. Quiet. It was unsettling. Especially after the driving rain and hail they’d just experienced.

  Wyatt looked westward, the direction the storm had come from, and saw something so surreal and terrifying on the horizon that he had to do a double take to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. For a moment he stood absolutely still, awestruck by the enormous funnel cloud that kicked up swirling columns of dust in the distance. There was something hypnotizing about it. Part of Wyatt wanted to stand there and watch, but soon his common sense took over.

  “Tornado!” Wyatt screamed. “Get to the storm shelter!” He pointed at the cellar doors by the side of the house. “We have to get to shelter. Run!”

  For a split second, the others froze in their tracks, startled by Wyatt’s outburst, until they, too, saw the tornado. The wind picked up and whipped around them, pushing away the stillness, and all four kids bolted, making a beeline for safety.

  Wyatt was surprised to see Alison outrun them all. She was fast and reached the cellar doors first, quickly followed by long-legged Jackson. They heaved open the doors, revealing a staircase down to the cellar, and paused for a moment, waiting for Wyatt and Joshua to catch up.

  “Don’t wait. Get inside!” Wyatt yelled.

  Jackson and Alison obeyed his command and disappeared down the steps, with Joshua scrambling in close behind them. Phew! We’re all safe, Wyatt thought as he darted down the first few steps and reached to close the doors. But before he could get a hold of them, a flash of pink streaked by.

  “Duncan is in the barn,” Alison shouted as she rushed back up the steps. “I have to go get him and bring him to the cellar!”

  “Are you nuts? Get back here!” Wyatt lunged for her, but she slipped out of his grasp. “There’s no time!” he yelled after her with desperation and fury in his voice.

  Alison turned and looked at him briefly with panicked eyes. The wind flung her long dark hair every which way. And then in a flash she was gone. Running away from them. Away from safety.

  And into the path of a monster.

  Marlane Kennedy is the author of Me and the Pumpkin Queen and The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes. She has lived through one tiny earthquake, the blizzard of 1978, and a tornado that swept through Wooster, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Though she is having a blast writing about disasters, she is hoping not to add any more to this list! You can find her online at www.marlanekennedy.com.

  Text copyright © 2014 by Marlane Kennedy

  Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, January 2014

  Cover art by Erwin Madrid

  Cover design by Nina Goffi

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-53295-2

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